Book of Revelations
When will the end come? It is human nature for humans to ask questions. Many of these questions are without answers and there is no possible way to come up with one. A common question that plagues the human race is “When will the world end?” For thousands of years, astrologers and psychics have been trying to come up with clues to when it all will end. There is a source, the Bible, which aids humans, specifically Christians, in trying to come up with some answers. Many places in the Bible such as Revelations, Ezekiel, Matthew, Daniel, and I Corinthians all give some clues to how and when the end of the world will come. Two articles that give some insight on this subject are “Visions or Heaven, Dreams of the End” by Barbara E. Bowe and “Are We Living at the End Time?” by Alfred McBride and O. Praem. These articles help to aid us with the answers to such questions as: How will the end time happen? Does the Bible tell more of a symbolic happening or are all of those horrible things going to happen? They also give details and hints that happen all over the Bible, such as the number seven. In the article “ Are We Living at the End Time,” authors McBride and Praem look at the end time from a millenarian’s perspective and backs up their claims with the Bible. Instead of using the Church’s four end time happenings: death, judgement, heaven and hell, the millenarian uses it’s own four criteria: Rapture, tribulation, millennium, and the Second Coming. Looking at these questions in a theological way, by asking questions, the authors make these four criteria easier to understand (McBride & Pream, 58). The first question asked is “When will we experience Rapture?” The millenarian looks specifically at Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians and to the Corinthians. In Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, he uses imagery to describe to them what Rapture will be like when Christ returns. He tells the Thessalonians in 1Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we’ll be with the Lord forever.” (New International Version) This is what millenarians call the Rapture ...
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..., John speaks of a new heaven and a new earth. This vision was not at all new, as its mentioned in Isa. 65:17. This vision is available to the reader to make a future for their world. He describes the new heaven and the new earth as a place with no evils, filled with the presence of God. The new earth in Revelations is not some burning fire pit with poison spitting animals, but a place of paradise. The author then goes to say that this was the view that we should all have had for the millennium. This is the view that I have always had for the end time. I am not one to sit around and be scared. I am so excited to meet my God in his paradise. Unlike the millenarian in the first article, I could really care less when or how I get to be there with him. The whole purpose of this paper was to come up with an answer to when the end time would be. However, I think through reading both of these article, I have come to find out in my mind, that no one knows but God. It is pointless to sit around and wonder if this 10-horned beast, rode by a past prostitute, is going to fall out of heaven in the end time. What I think is more important is making yourself ready for the coming of the end time.
He objects to a view which argues that John is speaking of God’s timing rather than ours by pointing out the concrete historicity of Revelation including churches and expressions used are “emphatic-declarative.” Regarding an objection which states that the events will ...
...iew. Jesus clearly states that the fall of Jerusalem will take place within His generation, but this is just the beginning. “All these things” includes the destruction of Jerusalem as a sign of the nearness of parousia. Yet, Jesus sees beyond this day of judgement and wants to instill confidence in believers for the labor pains to come. Because no one knows the day or the hour this is a warning to be ready from both Mark and Jesus. Mark and the first century church had no greater insight and thus would have been possibly expecting Jesus’ return during the destruction of Jerusalem. The event passed, but this just gave the early church greater faith in Christ’s reign as his prophecy was fulfilled and marked the a step towards His return. The nearness of parousia is evident in the language as Jesus calls for both fear and joy in the events of eschatological fulfillment.
Martyn, J. Louis. "The Apocalyptic Gospel in Galatians." Interpretation 54.3 (2000). 09 Jun. 2002 http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/tel_a/mmcwml.
The story before Matthew 24:43-51, the parable of the fig tree, turns our attention to identifying the outline of events prior to Jesus’ return. The emphasis is on identifying the abomination of desolation, the great tribulation, and the signs in the heavens leading to Jesus’ return. Though the seasons will be evident, man will continue on as if its life as usual. Noah’s time is used as an example to show how people will not recognize what is right in front of them until it is too late. “Two men will...
Notably, Bultmann’s approach is less as a debunker and more as an interpreter: his idea of the NT is a kind of pure theology written in the poetry of narrative. Therefore, the narrative elements are not important they are means of expressing a theological insight born of an encounter with God. Particularly, Jesus’ the death and resurrection are not two separate events, or two halves of one event. Christ simultaneously is crucified and God resurrects him to conquer death, is a singular event. As a result, the act of proclaiming Christ transcendence of the fallen world results in the person experiencing an encounter and relationship with Christ. Therefore, faith is an act of trust in this encounter and Christ's resurrection is an ongoing activity within the kerygma, and historical "facts" become irrelevant. Bultmann is criticized of denying the actual resurrection; perhaps it may be more accurate to say he redefines it.
Brooks and A.J Gordon (Balmer 34). Dispensationalism has been gaining followers for many years and its popularity can be seen in many places, such as in the Left Behind series which has captured the minds of many people around the world (Pagels 1). Now with historical context in mind, it is time to see what Dispensationalism teaches. Dispensationalism has three distinct characteristics: Rapture of Christians, Millennium Rule of Christ, and the Unfulfilled Prophecies of the Bible. For the purpose of this paper they will all be examined separately. The Rapture is the belief that Christians will be brought up and not have to endure the Tribulation (Robinson). The term “rapture” does not occur in the Bible but instead comes from a Latinized version of the word arpadzo which comes from “caught up” (Witherington 94). The belief in the Rapture for Dispensationalists is based on 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17 which they claim describes an event where living Christians return to heaven with Christ (Robinson). Secondly, the Millennium Rule is the belief that Jesus Christ will literally rule over earth for 1,000 years after the Tribulation (Robinson). The key here is that (as opposed to the Post-Millennial views) the believers have no part in setting up his reign
What happens when we die? What happens in the end times? Questions like these have been asked countless times by the Christian community and, like many other things in the Christian faith, there has not always been a clear answer. Will things play out as described in the book of Revelation? What does the promise of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ offer to us in the “end times”? I had the opportunity to consider some of these questions while sitting at the wake for one of my great aunts who had passed away suddenly from a severe stroke. Those present were certainly in a stage of mourning her loss, but there was also a strong feeling of joy and hope. This seemed to come from everyone observing all of the many young (even newborn) children who ran about the space pladying with one another, each oblivious to the reality of the room’s purpose and present state. When reading William J. La Due’s The Trinity Guide to Eschatology, I found myself drawn to the section on Jürgen Moltmann’s eschatology of hope. I believe that, like Moltmann, in the end God will save everyone, all creation and all humanity, as a fulfillment of God’s promise through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Unlike other views that believe the second coming will be in two phases, amillennialists feel it will occur in one stage; within the time between the first and second coming (459). They fuse the two resurrections spoken in Revelation 20:1-6 into one stage. In this one stage, a general resurrection will occur in which all believers and unbelievers will be gathered. They understand that Satan will be bound during the in-between time and at the second advent he will be released for a short time to cause havoc (458). Christ will return after the heavenly millennium reign and all believers and transformed believers will be taken up to the clouds to be with Him.
Before beginning this essay proper, it is important to first comprehend some of what is meant by the term eschatology, and how it is understood in the Book of Revelation. Eschatology broadly defined is that part of theology which deals with conceptions of the ‘end times’ and of the final things of the world and humanity. Within it sit many concepts, such as heaven and hell, divine judgment, the second coming, the defeat of evil and the new creation, among others things. As such, it encapsulates any discussion about the ‘end times’. This is certainly an apt title for much of the Book of Revelation then, with so much discussion of divine judgment on the first earth, the second coming of Christ and the coming of the New Creation. Within the pages of this text, however, a more complex eschatology is portrayed. While in the grander literary scheme of the text we see the ultimate destruction of death and hades and their throwing into the lake of fire...
I already handled some of Christ’s role in the End Time. I mentioned how Jesus was coming back for real and visibly, I truly believe it. He will judge all men on the last day. Those in Christ get to share in Christ's righteousness and get to be judged by it. We will also share in His reward.
No part of the Bible and its interpretation is more controversial than the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is the last profound book in the New Testament. It conveys the significant purpose of Christianity by describing God’s plan for the world and his final judgment of the people by reinforcing the importance of faith and the concept of Christianity as a whole. This book was written by John in 95 or 96 AD. What is, what has been, and what is to come is the central focus of the content in Revelation.
The term millennium does not appear anywhere in Scripture. The idea originated from a thousand year period of time that characterizes the reign of the Messiah. In fact, the phrase “thousand years” is stated six times in Revelation 20. There are three main schools of thought based upon one’s view of the thousand-year reign of Christ. These views are: Amillennial, Postmillennial and Premillennial. Over the centuries these prophetic differences have caused conflict within the body of Christ and are still currently widely debated. Instead of the book of Revelation being the basis of comfort (1 Thess. 4:18) among Christians it has become a bone of contention. However, this controversy should not deter Christ’s disciples from receiving the blessings that Revelation has to offer (Rev. 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14). Rather, one should study prophecy under the Spirit’s guidance and look at the data provided within the full context of the Word assessing each of the views for correct motives and presuppositions. Therefore, this paper will examine the nature, timing, and duration of the millennium as well as the occupants of the millennial kingdom and the relationship of Israel and the Church to the millennial kingdom. The aim of this paper is to address “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place” (Rev. 1:1, ESV).
...70). Further, he acknowledges that these things are meant to pass as all things do as he approaches the ultimate reality of the earthly world, "all this earthly habitation shall be emptied" (70). No comfort is to be found in a world were all things will come to an end as one progresses through a fleeting life.
Revelation identifies itself as “both an “apocalypse”…and as prophecy”, making it distinctly different from the rest of the New Testament. “Jewish apocalyptic literature flourished in the centuries following the completion of the OT canon”, and it is scattered throughout the Old Testaments in books such as Daniel, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. Apocalyptic literature is full of “visions that dramatize the prophet’s admission to God’s heavenly council”, and convey their meaning primarily through symbolism. John brings a “balanced message of comfort, warning, and rebuke” in Revelation, testifying to the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus Christ. Apart from the OT literature, Revelation shows a distinct optimism toward the end of days, for “Christ’s death has already won the decisive victory over evil”, with the Kingdom of God already among believers. This book was written in “approximately A.D. 95 on the island of Patmos”, which is still standing to this day. It was written under the emperor Domitian, with Roman authorities exiling John “to the island of Patmos (off the coast of Asia)”. The events in Revelation are also “ordered
According to Revelations 21:5, heaven is coming down and merging with human dwelling which is also considered the perfection of New Heaven and New Earth. Also, continuity in the coming world and life include the same earth and the same identity will remain through the change of fire while also the continuity of this world and into the world to come. In the coming world and life, we will be able to keep the Law perfectly and keep being perfect human beings. What we do in God and through God will be remembered and found in the New Heaven and New Earth. In addition, what we do in the present earth will extend into New Heaven and New Earth. Finally, the coming life and world known as the eschaton is an opportunity for new covenant, new life, and new self. These will become new because God will have these all fixed and the same identities will continue while also being radically